Development of Wind Powered Water Pump

This project deals with the development of wind powered water pump for irrigation purpose. Wind is a natural and renewable resource that is freely available all over the world. Harnessing this power for pumping water would save a lot on Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) costs that are continuously on the rise. In a place like Nigeria which experiences epileptic power supply, one way of meeting individual energy needs, is by providing alternative form of energy consumption. Previous researchers have shown that windmill is one of the best ways of harnessing this wind power and using it to pump water that is below the surface or delivering the water to a raised storage tank. A wind powered water pump prototype with a rotor diameter of 2.14m giving a total surface area of 3.733m2 and solidity of 0.654 with an average wind speed of 2.5m/s at 16m above the ground level has been developed using standards based on wind energy handbook. A horizontal axis windmill with 3 rotor blades was chosen due to better rotor balance with a maximum pump head of 0.3m to overcome other barriers to motion such as friction. Th e wind speed data, time and volume of water were analysed with anemometer, stop watch and measuring cylinder respectively. A three performance evaluation tests were carried out at every 20minutes time intervals. Performance tests of the developed wind pump revealed a sufficient discharge flow rate within the range of 3.4 to 6.44L/min for irrigation purpose

Publication Details

• Published: 2017
• Publisher: University of Ibadan, Nigeria